What's making noise in the sector this month?
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Check out the articles, news and blog posts being discussed in parliamentary circles this month.
Research briefing: Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals – House of Commons Library
14 June 2023. This paper provides statistics on household food insecurity, food bank usage and free school meals in the UK, and tracks the impact of rising living costs:
Article: Labour considering making the funded childcare hours means-tested, not universal – Nursery World
14 June 2023, Katy Morton. Labour has ruled out offering universal free childcare in favour of a means-tested offer to reduce spending commitments, reveal reports:
News: Ofsted and Ruth Perry: MPs launch inquiry into school inspections – BBC News Online
14 June 2023, Branwen Jeffreys & Alice Evans. MPs have launched an inquiry into Ofsted’s school inspections, looking at how useful they are to parents, governors and schools in England:
News: Ofsted changes after Ruth Perry’s family campaign ‘nowhere near’ enough – BBC News Online
13 June 2023, Branwen Jeffreys. The changes announced to Ofsted inspections in England are a start, but far bigger changes are needed, according to the family of Ruth Perry and a head teachers’ union:
Article: Ofsted to ‘significantly’ change complaints process – Nursery World
12 June 2023, Katy Morton. On Monday 12 June, Ofsted launched a consultation on plans to ‘significantly’ change its complaints process for both early years settings and schools:
Article: ‘Unacceptable’ that changes to Ofsted inspections only apply to schools and not early years – Nursery World
12 June 2023, Katy Morton. The sector has expressed its frustration at Ofsted for failing to recognise the impact of inspections on early years providers with the majority of its reforms applying to only schools:
News: UK food giant calls for higher fat, sugar and salt taxes – Guardian Online
11 June 2023, Jon Ungoed-Thomas. Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choices:
News: Ofsted to reinspect ‘inadequate’ Cambridge school after legal threat – BBC News Online
10 June 2023, Phil Shepka. Ofsted said it would reinspect a primary school that threatened legal action after it received an “inadequate” rating:
Article: Children’s minister pledges to re-examine local authority top-slicing of early years funding – Nursery World
9 June 2023, Nicole Weinstein. The children’s minister has vowed to look again at the percentage of early years funding that local authorities are allowed to keep back from providers in the Early Years Funding Formula:
News: Ministers accused of neglecting ‘tidal wave’ of child mental ill health in England – Guardian Online
9 June 2023, Sally Weale. Exclusive: Research reveals only a quarter of primaries will have vital school-based support by end of 2024:
Comment: Weight-loss drugs aren’t a magic bullet for Britain’s obesity crisis – Guardian Online
8 June 2023, Gaby Hinsliff. Ministers looking for an easy answer are pinning their hopes on appetite suppressants like Wegovy. But it’s not as simple as that:
News: Pupils face ‘lost decade’ in education after Covid, MPs warn – BBC News Online
7 June 2023, Christina McSorley & Alice Evans. Some pupils are facing a “lost decade” of progress in schools in England if action is not taken, MPs have warned. Their report expressed alarm that it could take 10 years for the gap between disadvantaged children and others to narrow to what it was before Covid:
News: MPs call for action on pandemic-widened gap between England’s poor and rich pupils – Guardian Online
7 June 2023, Sally Weale. Public accounts committee warns that without more intervention, attainment gap could take decade to return to pre-Covid levels:
News: UK mental health charities handed sensitive data to Facebook for targeted ads – Guardian Online
3 June 2023, Shanti Das. Embedded tracking tool revealed details of users’ visits to content on depression, self-harm and eating disorders:
News: Barnardo’s warns children are at greater risk of exploitation this summer – Barnardo’s
1 June 2023. Barnardo’s warns more children are at risk of exploitation this summer, as families struggle to afford activities during the school holidays and children are expected to be spending more time without adult supervision whilst online or out in the community:
